Committed to . . . ?

One of the more ineresting thoughts from McNeal's Missional Renaissance is how followers of Jesus may 'jump around' in terms of their participation with a local church. They may attend church A for their worship service, go to a small group at church B, and serve with a minsitry from church C. This kind of behavior will drive those who lead institutional churches crazy!

I began to see this trend several years ago in youth ministry. I'd have students who would attend our Wednesday evening programming, but might attend church somewhere else. I'd have volunteers who served with us on a Wednesday night, but might be in a small group from a different church. And as this pattern was developing, I remember having some conversations with some folks, and even other church leaders, over the idea of commitment. Why can't I go to this small group at a different church? I'd say you could, so long as you committed to that church. Why can't Joey come to our youth group? He can, but if he's from a different church, I'd prefer he attend there. Why can't I attend the special worship service with my friends at a different church? You can, but then I'd prefer you serve there too.

These kinds of conversations make sense for instiutional churches, where scorecards track attendance: attendance at weekly services, children's and youth programs, and small groups and bible studies. When we track (only) these kinds of numbers, it becomes highly important that people commit to one local church, so we can count that person. But if Joey attends somewhere else on a Sunday morning (but he's in my youth ministry), I can't count Joey, and this is rather bothersome. The irony might just be that Joey is growing as close to God as he has ever been, and instead of encouraging that relationship wherever it may take place at, we spend our energy trying to convince Joey that he needs to commit to one church. For Joey, that's about as absurd as saying "every time you go out to eat, it has to be at McDonald's, because you need to make a commitment to them".

Our focus needs to be on helping people grow in their commitment to Christ, not a local church.